The names of two designated trustees, Eseoghene Igbe Abanum Omonigho and Eddy Abanum, were removed, and an unknown individual named "USMAN AHMAD DADAH" was inserted in their place.
A non-governmental organisation, Mary Abanum Women and Children Love Foundation has raised the alarm over what it described as a fraudulent alteration of its Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) certificate application at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The Foundation's Assistant Programme Director, Bennie Efemena Ben-Iriri, who raised the alarm over the alleged infraction in a message to SaharaReporters, on Tuesday, said they were shocked recently to discover recently unauthorised changes in its SCUML certificate application, which was submitted to fulfil the requirement for opening a bank account for the NGO.
Ben-Iriri explained that instead of the names of two designated trustees supplied, to their shock, the name of an unknown individual had been inserted in their place.
Titled "Fraudulent Alteration of SCUML Certificate Application," the Assistant Programme Director, said, "I am writing to bring a matter of utmost urgency to your attention regarding the fraudulent alteration of our Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) certificate application.
"We recently discovered unauthorised changes made to our SCUML certificate application, which was submitted to fulfil the requirement for opening a bank account for our NGO.
"Shockingly, the names of two designated trustees, Eseoghene Igbe Abanum Omonigho and Eddy Abanum, were removed, and an unknown individual named "USMAN AHMAD DADAH" was inserted in their place.
"The fraudulent alteration of our application raises serious concerns about the integrity of the application process and the potential involvement of illicit activities.
"As an organisation committed to promoting transparency and ethical practices, we find ourselves deeply dismayed by this distressing situation. We firmly believe that exposing such fraudulent acts is crucial to maintaining the trust and credibility of our financial institutions."
Ben-Iriri, however, called on the EFCC to discreetly investigate and identify those responsible for the fraudulent alteration, with a view to punishing them to serve as a deterrent to others.
The Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) was established by the Nigerian Government in September 2005 in compliance with the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2004 which was subsequently repealed and amended to Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011(as amended) and most recently to Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Act, 2022.
It was created as part of measures for the implementation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), recommendations on Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) in Nigeria.
FATF, a global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, requires countries to implement 40 recommendations which are considered to be of international standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing as well as the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
The recommendations include amongst others the establishment of a legal and institutional framework for the effective implementation of the AML/CFT measures in all countries.
This led to the enactment of the Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Act, 2022 and the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011, (as amended) in Nigeria.
SCUML was created to implement specific sections of the Act in line with the FATF recommendations for the implementation of AML/CFT measures within the Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs) Sector in Nigeria.
SCUML is statutorily under the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment but operationally domiciled within the EFCC as the Commission drives the operational activities of the Unit in line with Sections 6(C) and 7(2) of the EFCC Establishment Act, 2004.